“Whenever I do overcome my inherent fear, it turns out well. Knowing this now for over twenty years, it is surprising that I still need to talk myself into it. It does seem to get a tiny little bit easier though.”
1 AIGA Detroit For this lecture poster for the AIGA Detroit we tried to visualize the pain that seems to accompany most of our design projects. Our intern Martin cut all the type into my skin. Yes, it did hurt real bad. ART DIRECTION: Stefan Sagmeister PHOTOGRAPHY: Tom Schierlitz CLIENT: AIGA Detroit
ZK: Another is, “Having guts always works out for me.” When has having guts best served you?
SS: Top and foremost, to work on and finish the Happy Film, to see if we actually made something that is worthwhile.
SS: Basically always. Whenever I do overcome my inherent fear, it turns out well. Knowing this now for over twenty years, it is surprising that I still need to talk myself into it. It does seem to get a tiny little bit easier, though.
ZK: Tell me a little bit about the film.
ZK: You’ve also said, “Keeping a diary supports my personal development.” Do you consistently keep a diary? I’d love to be locked in a room with your diary. What does it look like?
SS: “Keeping a diary supports personal development” came from the realization that my diary entries allow me to keep track of all the things I would like to change about my life. I used to keep a handwritten diary, but changed many, many years ago into a digital one, mostly because I found it easier to reread, as my handwriting had deteriorated to illegibility when I was very excited (and these were always the most interesting bits). ZK: What projects do you have coming up that you are excited about?
SS: When I did research for this film and read many, many psychology books on happiness, I found that whenever a scientist talked about something that had actually happened to her, a personal experience, I took this much more seriously than when she wrote about a survey she conducted. So I changed the direction of the film from a general documentation on the subject to focus mainly on personal experiences, hoping that viewers would have the same reaction as I had. The film in itself will not make viewers happy (in the same way as watching Jane Fonda exercise won’t make you lose weight), but I do hope that it might be the little kick in the ass to some viewers to explore these directions, like meditation or cognitive therapy. We plan to release it early 2014. ZK: Love that, Stefan, a little like teaching someone to fish. Thanks so much!
SS: Thank you, Zoe!
2 Deitch Projects, Banana Wall At the opening of our exhibition at Deitch Projects in New York we featured a wall of 10,000 bananas. Green bananas created a pattern against a background of yellow bananas spelling out the sentiment: Self-confidence produces fine results. After a number of days the green bananas turned yellow too and the type disappeared. When the yellow background bananas turned brown, the type (and the self-confidence) appeared again, only to go away when all bananas turned brown. ART DIRECTION: Stefan Sagmeister DESIGN: Richard The, Joe Shouldice Client: Deitch Projects
3 Lou Reed Poster I went to a show in Soho by middle Eastern artist Shirin Neshat. She used arabic type written on hands and feet. It was very personal. When I came back I read Lou’s lyrics for Trade In, a very personal song about his need to change. We used his lyrics written on his face. ART DIRECTION: Stefan Sagmeister DESIGN: Stefan Sagmeister PHOTOGRAPHY: Timothy Greenfield Sanders CLIENT: Warner Bros. Music Inc.
4 Drugs are fun... One installment in the series of “Things I have learned in my life so far”. The six double page speard for the Austrian magazine .copy spell out: Drugs / are fun / in the beginning / but / become a drag / later on. These are dividing spaces, each opening a new chapter in the magazine. Each month the magazines commissions another studio/artist with the design. ART DIRECTION: Stefan Sagmeister, Matthias Ernstberger DESIGN: Matthias Ernstberger PHOTOGRAPHY: Bela Borsodi CLIENT: .copy Magazine
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style = fart Invitation on whoopee cushion to a lecture at the Baltimore Museum of Art. ART DIRECTION: Stefan Sagmeister CLIENT: AIGA Baltimore
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